Since nobody in their right mind wants to live eight meters away from a busy train station, ARTEC Architekten[1] devised several clever solutions to mitigate noise and visual pollution at the Mühlgrund apartment building in Vienna, Austria. Built to passive house standards, the 7-story apartment complex features a perforated metal skin on the northern side, an indoor vertical garden[2] and balconies shaded by solar screens on the more aesthetically-pleasing southern side.

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In between the metal envelope and the building’s wide interior corridors, a cascading staircase creates something of a sound barrier that shields inhabitants of the Mühlgrund apartment complex from the noisy train station outside. An interior vertical garden[4] of 1,000 was built with 11 seven meter-wide planters that hang from tension cables.

Oak windows bring natural light[5] into each one bedroom apartment and create a view to the hanging garden. Occupants who want more than one room can spread out into the adjacent apartment. On the southern side of the building, which has a much nicer view, every apartment has its own balcony clad with sliding textile solar protection and a rooftop terrace[6] compensates for the lack of green space outside.

A mixed-use facility[7] that has a ground floor commons area complete with kitchen appliances, along with workshop and studio space, nursing services and doctor’s offices, Mühlgrund manages to escapes obscurity with its unique shell and beautiful lime interior.